Obama’s New Courting of Hollywood Pays Off

President Obama with Jeffrey Katzenberg, the head of DreamWorks Animation, at a 2009 Democratic National Committee fund-raiser. Mr. Katzenberg is a major supporter of Mr. Obama.Credit
Charles Dharapak/Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — For years, President Obama has largely been absent in Hollywood, a point of unhappiness with a community accustomed to the constant doting of Bill Clinton. But over the last few months, Mr. Obama and his representatives have held a series of meetings and telephone calls with some of the region’s most influential donors and fund-raisers, reflecting Hollywood’s new importance in the president’s re-election campaign.

The fruit of that effort became clear this week as Mr. Obama is scheduled to attend a fund-raiser on Thursday night at the Fryman Canyon home of the actor George Clooney. At last count, organizers said, the event had raised well over $6 million, plus many millions more through an online raffle, record territory. They said they stopped selling $40,000-a-plate tickets last week because there was no room to squeeze in any more tables.

Mr. Obama’s announcement on Wednesday that he now supported same-sex marriage should assure him a warm reception at the Clooney residence. Organizers had expected the president to face tough questions from an audience that had grown increasingly uncomfortable with his tentativeness on an issue of great importance here.

Norman Lear, the television producer, said moments after the announcement that he and his wife, Lyn, who had held back from giving money to Mr. Obama, would now contribute the maximum allowed, $80,000 between them. “This is the kind of leadership we support, and we are happy to max out today to his re-election campaign,” he said.

Mr. Obama’s growing fund-raising prowess here, in a region of California packed mansion-to-mansion with wealthy liberal donors, is crucial for the campaign, as it confronts the likelihood that it cannot match Mitt Romney, the presumed Republican nominee, in drawing “super PAC” money, or draw the big-dollar support from Wall Street that was central to Mr. Obama’s 2008 victory.

Still, the checks are finally flowing after Mr. Obama and some of his top aides, at the behest of some of his supporters, made the kind of personal outreach that was once Mr. Clinton’s stock in trade here. And as critically, the money came after a network of fund-raisers — chief among them the entertainment mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, who has emerged as one of Mr. Obama’s biggest champions — methodically pestered big-name Hollywood figures for checks, pointing to the contrast between Mr. Obama, whatever his perceived shortcomings, and Mr. Romney.

At times they dealt with donors who voiced disappointment at Mr. Obama’s distance since he moved into the White House, a contrast made more stark by memories of Mr. Clinton’s frequent visits and hand-holding here as president.

And they voiced disappointment with Mr. Obama — on the environment, health care, the war in Afghanistan and his failure to turn around the terrorism policies of George W. Bush. Most recently, some were upset at what they saw as Mr. Obama’s failure to side with Hollywood in a dispute with the Silicon Valley over legislation intended to reduce online piracy of films. And, of course, there was same-sex marriage.

“My conversations over these last few weeks have actually been very straightforward, and it’s a very simple decision for all of us to make right now,” Mr. Katzenberg said in an interview. “Today there is a very simple clear, clean choice. Mitt Romney or Barack Obama. That’s it. In that regard, that is an easy choice.”

Mr. Katzenberg said he expected Thursday’s event to draw $15 million altogether, though campaign officials disputed that figure as too high.

For the president, the efforts here have required occasional direct contact with major donors who needed to hear from him personally before offering a full commitment, including Haim Saban, the television industry billionaire and major backer of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. He told The Hollywood Reporter recently that Mr. Obama had received him in the Oval Office.

Mr. Obama has also taken it upon himself to call key figures in the industry to measure the political temperature, among them Ari Emanuel, the powerful Hollywood agent and brother of his former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.

Photo

Bill Maher gave $1 million to a pro-Obama “super PAC.”Credit
Janet Van Ham/HBO

One person helping to wrangle donors said that at times he had to offer what he described as civics lessons to help potential supporters appreciate the difficulty of passing some of the legislation Mr. Obama had promised in 2008.

Rob Reiner, the director who had been critical of Mr. Obama just two years ago, said he had shifted his view of the president as he came to recognize the obstacles Mr. Obama faced.

“I felt that he tried to accommodate the other side too much,” Mr. Reiner said. “I realize now that it was an attempt to try to broker some kind of compromise. I think he realized like everybody realized, that it’s virtually impossible.”

“Given all of that, I think he has done an incredible job,” Mr. Reiner added. “I’ve done, I wouldn’t say a 180 — I was never against him — but I’ve certainly done more than a 90. All my fellow Hillary supporters have come full around. It just took a little while.”

Video

TimesCast Politics | May 9, 2012

President Obama declares support for same-sex marriage in an interview with ABC.

That changing view may reflect what Mr. Obama’s aides have long hoped: that liberals would rally around the president as unrealized expectations bumped up against the possibility of a President Romney.

“I think all progressives are disappointed in Obama to a degree,” said Bill Maher, the television talk show host. He had been critical of Mr. Obama but later wrote a $1 million check to a super PAC working on the president’s behalf.

“He is not slashing the defense budget, he is not raising taxes on the wealthy, really,” Mr. Maher said in an interview. “He gave in on the Bush tax cuts.” But, he said, when compared with Mr. Romney: “It’s not even close. You just run back into his arms.”

Hollywood faces its own competition with Silicon Valley, which is also capable of raising prodigious amounts of money, and is fighting Hollywood over its push for Congressional action to curb Internet piracy.

“Los Angeles is by far the most dominant financial market for Democratic candidates in the country,” said Andy Spahn, who is Mr. Katzenberg’s political adviser and does his own fund-raising as well. “But in terms of entertainment and Silicon Valley, there’s a shared commitment to re-elect this president.”

The effort has gone beyond just the entertainment industry and included the presidential decorator Michael Smith. Winning the public support of Mr. Saban, known for his rigorous commitment to Israel, was also critical to persuading Jewish donors here to participate, a member of the campaign finance team said. At the same time, recruiting a star as popular as Mr. Clooney helped the campaign drastically increase its haul by attracting tens of thousands of small-dollar donors, drawn in part by a chance to win a seat at this celebrity-packed dinner.

“In the end, it was lots and lots and lots of talk, and then it got time for the rubber to meet the road here,” Mr. Katzenberg said. “He is now the candidate; he is facing another candidate; there is a choice.”

A version of this article appears in print on May 10, 2012, on Page A18 of the New York edition with the headline: Obama’s New Courting Of Hollywood Pays Off. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe